Also in March of 1918, Sumner P. Mills, a local lawyer and political figure was placed in charge of the “Women on Farms” venture. This program was created by the U.S. Dept. of Labor and Dept. of Agriculture. “Women will go to farms where farmers are willing and ready to use their labor.”

Calls from the government came:
• “Plant an Acre”
• “Cut a Cord”
• “Raise More Wheat and More Animals”

Unfortunately, the winter of 1917-18 was a difficult one which wiped out a large portion of bee hives. There was “almost no honey in Maine.” The apple crop was largely affected by the lack of bees.

Several crops were bountiful, including beans and corn and were a boon for the canneries, who described business as “booming.” The J. Wesley Pratt cannery put up over 7,000 cases of string beans in 1918 and Burnham and Morrill who owned corn canneries, offered 5 cents per pound, a bonus of 1 cent per pound to stimulate local corn production. They also offered fertilizer and seed in any quantity.

Clarence Titcomb was awarded a $75 scholarship in 1918 by “the Maine Canner’s Association for cutting 1,597 pounds of corn from a quarter acre at a profit of $40.04.” (Note: Brenda Voter York (and Herbert "Bussy" York) of Sandy River Farms, won the 2008 National Corn Growers' Assoc. Corn Yield Contest in Maine. She grew 175 bushels per acre of a hybrid corn. Comparing her yield with Clarence Titcomb's, she grew 2,450 lbs. per quarter acre).